Mating in mice

Question
My male and female mouse does nmt mate each other. What is happening sir? Pleare help me ou.

Answer
Dear John,

Mouse does (a female is a doe) only come into heat every 3-5 days. There can be various reasons for not mating. One or both may be too young. The buck may be inexperienced and clumsy. The doe may have chased him away. Or there may be a physical defect. However, this does not mean that they wouldn't breed in the future.

However.. Breeding mice is not a good idea. Breeding should be done by a trained, educated breeder. Pet store mice should not be bred if possible. If you do choose to breed, remember that with a litter of up to 16, you could have as many as 10 males to place in homes. Most males end up fighting and live alone; and if they fight they will fight to the death. So you could be talking about possibly ten extra cages- or possibly ten people to adopt. Before breeding, you must make sure that you have situations set up for at least 8 males. Can you really do that?

If you are breeding for feeders, please rethink that as well. In the UK live feeding is illegal, as it should be everywhere. And they have the same reptiles as in the US. Every reptile can learn to eat thawed mice.

I suggest you separate your doe and buck and if you want more mice, get more females to keep her company. While males usually must live alone, females must not.

Best of luck to your little mice!

Squeaks n giggles,

Natasha